Monday, October 6, 2014

Andrew Surage: slain outside after-hours club 'dedicated father and husband' in Toronto

TORONTO - One suspect and three people of interest are being sought in the early October murder of Andrew Surage, Toronto Police said.

Homicide squad Det.-Sgt. Graham Gibson released images of the wanted man and people of interest — taken from video surveillance during a press conference at police headquarters Thursday.

Surage, 42, was shot dead outside an after-hours club on Weston Rd. near Rogers Rd. around 5:45 a.m. on Oct. 5.

The city’s 42nd homicide this year was a husband and father of five who was not previously known to police, Gibson said. He died shortly after being shot once.

Surage and his friends were at the club — which was not licensed to serve alcohol — “by chance” and only stayed for a short period of time, he said.

“After exiting, a friend of Mr. Surage’s was approached by a male suspect,” Gibson said. “This male spoke briefly with this friend and then grabbed a chain from around the friend’s neck.”

The friend was also assaulted during the theft of his chain, he said.

“Mr. Surage came to his friend’s aid and asked the suspect to return the chain,” Gibson added. “The suspect refused and left the area.”

Video surveillance then shows the suspect walking to a vehicle parked nearby, around 5:40 a.m.

“I believe it was at this point that the suspect retrieved a handgun,” Gibson alleged.

The suspect — described by witnesses as in his 20s, with a muscular build and curly black hair in a ponytail — came back to where he had robbed Surage’s friend and “fired one shot, which struck Mr. Surage.”

Gibson said the man then left the crime scene in a car that is possibly a dark-coloured, late-model Honda Accord.

The three people of interest — two men and one woman — should contact police immediately, he added.

“At the moment leading up to the shooting, I believe the persons of interest were aware that the suspect had access to a gun and further, that those same persons of interest are now aware that the suspect shot Mr. Surage,” Gibson said.

Anyone who recognizes the people in the images released by police or anyone who left the scene without speaking with police should also contact investigators at 416-808-7400 ext. 77405 or ext. 77411 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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